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Lofty Hope Of Robert Kennedy Vs. Dangerous Donald Trump

March 14, 2016

Many columns are read for information on the issues of the day. Few, however, move me in the way this one does.

On the night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, Robert F. Kennedy spoke to an America roiling with anger. According to Mike Barnicle, his words are more relevant than ever, after the recent violence and rage seen at Donald Trump’s rallies.

Mike Barnicle writes in The Daily Beast:

Trump’s words do not inspire his crowds. They anger. He does not encourage. He aggravates. … He is not a bad man. He is just one more public man who thinks and believes that each image of himself in the mirror reflects an individual greatness no one else owns. …

All those years ago, 48 of them, when America was truly rocked back on the ropes by war, riots, assassinations, violence and a future seemingly wrapped in trauma, Robert F. Kennedy left Indianapolis for Cleveland, Ohio where he spoke on April 5th, the day after Martin Luther King was killed. …

“[S]urely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.” … His message, his voice, his attitude, his every appearance and intent were clear. He sought to make America great again.